Harness-bit.



E. MORREY.

HARNESS BIT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19. I916- RENEWED MAY 6.1918.

1 ,2? l '2 Patented Sept. 10, 1918.

nn AnnMoRREY, on rnzrnnson, NEW JERSEY.

HARNESS-BIT.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented Sept. 10, 1918'.

ApplicationfiledSeptember 19; 1916, Seria1 No. 120,948. R'newedMay-fi; 1918. Serial No. 232,937.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD MORREY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in HarnessBits, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to harness bits and it consists in a novel appliance designed primarily to keep the animals head in proper position while being driven and especially to prevent the animal from drawing in its head, thereby cutting off its wind, or performing other head movements that result in interference with its speed or gait or are otherwise undesirable, said appliance being further designed so as to be inexpensive to manufacture, simple in construction and readily made a part of the head gear of the harness.

My invention is characterized by a projection on the bit to bear against the roof of the animals mouth, but instead of the bit being calculated to be tilted to bring such projection into action, it is adapted to be held with the same normally projecting toward the roof of the mouth, so that it will be brought into action directly upon suitable pressure being applied, as by a check strap which extends back over the horses head and which will tighten if the animal attempts to draw in its head.

In the accompanying drawing, in which the invention is fully illustrated,

Figure 1 shows a horses head having my appliance fitted thereto;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the appliance;

Fig. 3 a side elevation;

Fig. 4 a side elevation of the bit, partly broken away; and,

Fig. 5 shows another form of the appliance.

The bit a consists of a bar bent more or less into the form of a double U. That is, it has an intermediate upwardly projecting bend or projection b and its ends 0 turned upwardly, there being curved bends d between the projection b and the ends 0. On the projection b is preferably journaled a rowel, here shown in the form of a roller e.

The bends d d accommodate the upper teeth of the animals mouth and permit the roller e to bear against the roof thereof.

The ends of the bit are especially designed so that when the bit is in place-in the ani mals mouth its projection Z) will normally be held projecting toward the roof thereof, so that to bring the roller 6 to bear against the same will only require pressure in that direction. To this end, I prefer to form the ends of the bit, which are flat, as shown, with two horizontal slots 9 to receive a strap having suitable stiffness, such as ordinary harness straps, and adapted rather closely to fit the same.

In Fig. 2 said strap 71. is a nose-band whose ends are passed first through the lower slots (preferably from the inside) and then back through the upper slots, being attached to the body of the strap by the buckles i. The nose-band is adapted to be adjusted so as to hold the bit normally in the position explained, i. e., with the projection b projecting toward the roof of the animals mouth. Attached to or otherwise extending from the nose-band is a check strap j adapted to be engaged with the check hook or equivalent on the pommel of the harness saddle.

In Fig. 5, the nose-band 71. has its ends extending first through the upper slot of the bit (preferably from the outside) and then through the lower slots, said ends being then buckled to a chin strap 70. By tightening the buckles Z, having first adjusted the bit vertically on the nose-band to insure the bit being held with the projection b normally projecting toward the roof of the animals mouth, the encircling member h7c may be properly fitted to the animals muzzle. The check strap j extends from the nose-band h and is adapted to be connected with the hook on the harness saddle the same as in the construction first described.

In driving a horse equipped with my appliance it will be found that the animal will keep its head in proper position at all times and will be discouraged by the rowel action of the roller from performing those movements of its head, as explained. which interfere with its speed or gait. The appliance is humane in character, since it is not supposed to be adjusted to exert pressure on the roof of the horses mouth unless, only, the animal makes some such extraordinary head movements as those referred to, although at such times it will be certainly effective to produce the desired pressure.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure Letters Patent is In combination, a bit having at its midportion an upward projection terminating 5 in a rowel adapted to bear against the roof of the animals mouth centrally thereof and having its ends bent up in the same direction as said projection, the parts of the bit between such projection and said ends being g 10 depressed sufliciently so that the rowel on movement of the bit toward the roof of the.

mouth will come to bear thereonv before said parts, and means to support the bit in the animals mouth with the projection held projecting toward-the roof of the mouth, said means being constructed and arranged, when the animals head is lowered, to press against the roof of the animals mouth without tilting and including a check-strap to extendback over the animals head.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. EDWARD MORREY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gominissioner of Imtents,

Washington, I). 0. a 

